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A. There are at least two good arguments for eating organic: fewer pesticides and more nutrients. Let’s start with pesticides. Pesticides can be absorbed into fruits and vegetables, and leave trace residues. The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, pored over the results of nearly 51,000 USDA and FDA tests for pesticides on 44 popular produce items and identified the types of fruits and vegetables that were most likely to have higher trace amounts. Most people have no problems eating conventionally grown produce but if you feel strongly about pesticide residues, the EWG’s list below should help you shop.

As for nutrients, in 2007 a study out of Newcastle University in the United Kingdom reported that organic produce boasted up to 40 percent higher levels of some nutrients (including vitamin C, zinc and iron) than its conventional counterparts. Additionally, a 2003 study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that organically grown berries and corn contained 58 percent more polyphenols—antioxidants that help prevent cardiovascular disease—and up to 52 percent higher levels of vitamin C than those conventionally grown. Recent research by that study’s lead author, Alyson Mitchell, Ph.D., an associate professor of food science and technology at the University of California, Davis, pinpoints a potential mechanism to explain why organic techniques may sometimes yield superior produce.

It’s a difference in soil fertility, says Mitchell: “With organic methods, the nitrogen present in composted soil is released slowly and therefore plants grow at a normal rate, with their nutrients in balance. Vegetables fertilized with conventional fertilizers grow very rapidly and allocate less energy to develop nutrients.” Buying conventional produce from local farmers also has benefits. Nutrient values in produce peak at prime ripeness, just after harvest. As a general rule, the less produce has to travel, the fresher and more nutrient-rich it remains.

A 2008 review by the Organic Center of almost 100 studies on the nutritional quality of organic produce compared the effects conventional and organic farming methods have on specific nutrients. The report’s conclusion: “Yes, organic plant-based foods are, on average, more nutritious.”

Bottom line: “Eating more fresh fruits and vegetables in general is the point,” says Mitchell. If buying all organic isn’t a priority—or a financial reality for you—you might opt to buy organic specifically when you’re selecting foods that are most heavily contaminated with pesticide and insecticide residues. See next page for a handy chart for common fruits and vegetables.

Preferably Organic
—Most Commonly Contaminated*

If Budget Allows, Buy Organic

It’s Your Call —Least Commonly Contaminated

Apples

Celery

Strawberries

Peaches

Spinach

Nectarines

Grapes

Sweet Bell Peppers

Potatoes

Blueberries

Lettuce

Kale/Collard Greens

Green Beans

Summer Squash

Peppers

Cucumbers

Raspberries

Grapes - Domestic

Plums

Oranges

Cauliflower

Tangerines

Bananas

Winter Squash

Cranberries

Onions

Sweet Corn

Pineapples

Avocado

Asparagus

Sweet Peas

Mangoes

Eggplant

Cantaloupe

Kiwi

Cabbage

Watermelon

Sweet Potato

Grapefruit

Mushrooms

*Listed in order of pesticide loadSource: Environmental Working Group. Go to foodnews.org for updates. Updated June 2011.

Organic food is much expensive and there are only small difference. Also, it is not 100 percent organic. It is just waste of money. People should know the truth. Not like organic is the best.

— Anonymous

05/10/2016 - 8:30am

How can anyone justify that spraying chemicals on food is good for you let alone injecting meat and adding preservatives? I feel so much more clearer, energetic, healthier, aware and alive when i eat clean healthy organic foods. I see everyone around me eat like crap and they are sluggish, on medication, lazy, and so unaware of everything. You are what you eat and i am so glad i have the option to not eat the foods most people see as "expensive and a trend". I stand by organic food and will until the day i die, i will never eat non organic food again.

— Anonymous

05/02/2016 - 9:18am

I just really like fruit

— Anonymous

03/23/2016 - 9:39am

Organic food can be infected and then infect you then you get sick.

— Anonymous

03/21/2016 - 8:39am

non or organic

— Anonymous

03/16/2016 - 3:18pm

Organic is the best way to go! The hardest thing is the stores do not carry enough. The soil alone being treated ruins the fruits and vegetables. I feel that when eating non organic food we get some nutrition along with pesticides and toxins. And even worse when cooked we lose over 80% of nutrition. Go on line to food matters and you will see how bad everything is. That is why there is so much sickness in the world. But if your eating fast foods anyway then why bother. You are what you eat. If you want to be healthy as you grow older then you need to take care of yourself now. Look around and notice yourself how people can hardlywalk well or even breath. Its a horrible quality of life.

-Anonymous

— Anonymous

02/26/2016 - 6:27pm

I like mog

— Anonymous

02/22/2016 - 3:21pm

Organic is better, doesn't have pesicide traces, and it is grown with more care, just ask a organic farmer what he does, then ask a conventional farmer and see how much of a moron they are.

— Anonymous

02/13/2016 - 1:12am

Rain water and air quality is very toxic and most soils are depleted by 90% or more what good does not enough nutrients and toxic fruits veggies nuts berries and grains ... mostly depleted an toxic.

— Anonymous

01/18/2016 - 8:35pm

Both organic and non-organic farming methods have both their ups and downs. There is no black and white better solution. While GMO has a bad reputation mainly because Monsanto has aggressive patent protection (basically suing the crap out of anyone who tries to spread the knowledge of GMO), GMO foods basically do what organic farming is trying to do, albeit more efficiently and with better results. Organic farming, while typically 20% to even 50% less efficient than conventional farming, encourages biodiversity and keeps pests at bay with crop rotation and other good farming methods.

The biggest problem however is both sides are spending millions and millions into just making propaganda to make claims that consumers must pick sides in the organic vs non-organic battle. The thing is, there are no sides. If the proponents on both sides just realised how petty their arguments were, and actually started *working together* to combine the best of both worlds, this place would be a lot happier...